Demetrio Stratos

Demetrio Stratos (1945–1979) was a Greek-Italian vocalist and musician, lead singer of the Italian prog-rock group Area and an extraordinary experimental vocalist. His solo work explored the extreme physical possibilities of the voice — multiphonics, overtone singing, percussive techniques — in ways that were both scientifically rigorous and dramatically compelling. He collaborated with John Cage and with researchers at the Milanese Institute for musical psychology. He died of a rare blood disease at 34, leaving a small but astonishing body of recorded solo work.